Ballyhack Castle

PricingFreeFree for all visitors

Free entry for everyone

Entry

Free for everyone

Pricing details

Free for everyone in season, with guides on hand; no booking. No membership card is needed.

ParkingParking not known

The Trust's page does not say how parking is charged.

Parking details

OPW names no car park, only 'Located in Ballyhack village (off R733)'. A surface car park by the harbour, about 110 m from the castle, is mapped in OpenStreetMap but named by no official source; no charge is published. The Passage East car ferry lands in the village.

Driving pin: OPW's own pin on the tower house, which Google's listing shares within 11 m.

About

High above the village of Ballyhack, on a steep slope overlooking the Waterford Estuary, this five-storey tower house was probably built around 1450 by the Knights Hospitallers of St John, one of the two great military orders founded during the Crusades. Its walls stand complete to the wall walk. The entrance was guarded outside by a machicolation and inside by a murder hole, through which defenders could drop rocks, boiling water, hot sand or oil on attackers. On the second floor a small chapel is built into the north-east wall, with its piscina, aumbry and altar, and there is replica armour from the Crusades and the Norman period on display. Local guides tell the story of the castle and the village, and the views over the estuary from the quay and the windows are a highlight. Admission is free. Expect steep stone stairs and low doorways, and note the short summer season, when the castle opens Saturday to Wednesday only.

ClosedPick a day for times and prices

Site Closed Site now closed until 2027

Today, Saturday 24 October

Ballyhack CastleClosed

Closed for the winter.

Opening times may change at short notice.

Open in summer only: in 2026 from 7 May to 26 August, Saturday to Wednesday 10:00 to 17:00 (closed Thursdays and Fridays), with last admission 45 minutes before closing; OPW says the site is now closed until 2027 and has not published the 2027 dates (2025 ran 13 May to 27 August). Visitors are shown round by OPW guides.

Reception and the castle are reached by a staircase, and the upper floors by steep stone stairs with low doorways; hold the hand rail and wear suitable footwear. No toilets, cafe or shop.

Photo: Ballyhack Castle's five-storey stone tower house above the village street, with a cottage beside it. Alanna Milbourne, CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ballyhack_Castle_by_the_harbour.jpg. Licence: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0. Resized and cropped for display; derivatives retain the source licence.